As a soccer fan, we always look forward to two events that happen every four years, and that is the women and men’s world cups. In France, 24 countries will battle it out to see who can win the golden trophy. This tournament is the one tournament that players want to play in and look forward to competing in. We will see a lot of heart and passion from these teams as they try to show their countries people what they are made of.
This year. World Cup is considered to be the deepest pool of world cup teams in years as many of the groups are expected to compete at the world cup. The Four teams that are believed to have the best chance to lived up the trophy are the US, France, Germany, and England.
US Women’s Team
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Let’s start with the US side that is poised and looking to make another run to finals after last years win over Japan In Canada. The US Side is coming in with another deep and talented group led by returning coach Jill Ellis. The US Lineup will look vastly different this year as they lose vital players Abby Wambach, Lauren Holiday and Goal Keeper Hope Solo. However, they return 15 players from the last world cup with the likes of Alex Morgan, Megan Rapino and Carli Loyed who was a force in the 2015 World Cup.
The Strengths of the United States at this World Cup is how effective they are down the wings, with several versatile, top-quality options that Jill Ellis has at her disposal. The attacking players for the US will also be a strength as star striker Megan Rapinoe is playing some of her best soccer, even though she is 33. Alex Morgan is a talented player and natural leader, while Tobin Heath impresses every time she takes to the field too. The Weaknesses of the team will be GoalKeeping and on the defense side of the ball. Hope Solo is gone from this team so Alyssa Naeher will have big shoes to fill.
France Womens Team
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France is coming in as the host of the World Cup this year, so this will put pressure on them to put on a good showing for their fans. The France Team has not gone beyond the quarterfinal round in any of the recent major tournaments. France automatically qualified for the tournament due to them being the host nation. They are coming into the world cup with good form having shown great technical ability and have been unbeaten since February and are 2-0-1 against the US in its last three meetings. A player to watch out for on the France Team is Vice Captain Eugenie Le Sommer who has played in more 150 games and has scored more than 70 goals for France.
German Women’s Team
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Germany has an impressive team coming into the world cup. They have a new coach of the team who is Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, and she has gotten off to a good start. They are unbeaten this year wins over France, Sweden, and a draw vs. well regarded Japan. Alexandra Popp and Dzsenifer Marozsan are key players to watch for the Germans. Popp leads France with 46 goals in 96 National appearances and Marozsan is the captain of the team and was the star of their Olympic gold medal Run in 2016.
England Women’s Team
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England is another team that favored to go through to the knockout rounds. Phill Neville coaches them, and he preaches that he wants England to play an, attacking, passing game. The key players to watch for the England side is Jodie Taylor. Taylor is a striker that has World Cup experience who has scored five goals which including a hat trick against Scotland where she went onto to win the Golden Boot at UEFA Women’s Euro 2017. Another Key Player for England is Lucy Bronze, Bronze A former All-American and NCAA champion at North Carolina, Bronze will be a key for England as she has established herself as the best defender in the world with England.
Look for a very competitive women’s world cup this year as Teams and players will put their heart on the pitch. The fans will be loud at the stadium and around the world while watching their team compete. They will want their team to win at any cost. Enjoy watching the Deepest field in the world cup and look for any of those top teams to have a chance to make it to the final and throw up that golden trophy.